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Chapter Two Hundred and Five War Chess

“Where are we heading?” Chun Yu Cheng asked uncertainly.

“Jie river.”

Gongsun Cha’s face was relaxed, half-lying on the bottom of the cabin, relaxed and idle.

“How do you know?” Chun Yu Cheng looked worriedly at Zuo Mo Shixiong who was still working on the date seed ship. Shixiong had been working for several hours and showed no signs of stopping.

“Ha. Shixiong might look careful and conservative, but if he’s pressured, he’s vicious and decisive.” Gongsun Cha said unconcernedly.

“What happens if Little Mountain Jie has been taken by the yaomo?” Chun Yu Cheng’s face was slightly pale. The strong offensive power of the yao army had almost destroyed his soul.

“No way about it. It’s all up to luck.” Gongsun Cha stretched out his waist, and laid down completely.

With a hiss, a silver light suddenly flashed outside the ship.

Just having laid down, Gongsun Cha instantly sat up, eyes looking outside. When he saw the lightning outside the ling shield, he first stilled, and then had joy on his face. Chun Yu Cheng who was in a fragile state of mind was half-scared to death by the noise.

“How’s the power of that thing?” Gongsun Cha pointed outside the ship, and asked Zuo Mo who had finally stopped and walked over.

“Better than nothing.” Zuo Mo sat down in exhaustion. “My skill in formations isn’t enough. This lightning net doesn’t have any dead ends but it is way too loose. Don’t have high hopes about the power.”

Gongsun Cha nodded, and then asked, “How far have we travelled?”

“This boat goes one hundred li every two hours, how long has it been?”

“Twelve hours.”

“Then it’s six hundred li,” Zuo Mo said. “Seems no one has chased after us.”

“I wonder what this yao army is looking for. This is an unexpected calamity.” Chun Yu Cheng sighed.

Zuo Mo naturally could not say the yao army was searching for him, but seeing Chun Yu Cheng’s worried expression, he knew this docile person had been frightened too deeply today, and hurried to comfort him.

The two shidi had two completely different personalities. Chun Yu Cheng was docile, and somewhat lacking in courage, only interested in animals. Gongsun Cha was the exact opposite. He was cunning and daring, calm when there was trouble, and had a devious and dark character. He didn’t have much interest in butchering.

“Follow the flow.” Gongsun Cha inserted and then raised his delicate face, his eyes shining, “Shixiong, there’s nothing to do now. Why don’t you get them to practice their cooperation?”

Zuo Mo understood that Gongsun Cha meant the three golden armor guards.

“Cooperation?”

Gongsun Cha’s words reminded him. The blow that the yao army had given them was too strong. The troops that were so organized they were almost insane, so neat that it seemed almost impossible, and that lightning attack that they couldn’t even hold their heads up against. Zuo Mo felt that he wouldn’t forget it in his life. The shock and panic of the xiuzhe was the perfect definition of the word “rabble.”

Every time he thought of it, he felt coldness seep uncontrollably from his heart.

The yao army gave all the xiuzhe on the Desolate Wood Reef a lesson.

Even the stupidest person could see the difference between the two, and could feel the difference in power. Zuo Mo suddenly had a feeling, that the era of individual power was nearing its end.

However, he quickly threw the problem to the back of his mind. A big problem like an era ending, it wasn’t something a little ningmai like him could relate to. But he agreed greatly with Gongsun Cha’s suggestion.

However, while he agreed, how to accomplish it was the true problem, “I don’t know how.”

“We can slowly try,” Gongsun Cha’s decisive tone made Zuo Mo look at him. He grinned. “It’s better than losing our lives.”

For some reason, Zuo Mo felt Gongsun Shidi’s delicate face was like the raised head of a snake, vicious and cold.

But when he turned his eyes towards Gongsun, Shidi’s smile was so sunny and timid that Zuo Mo felt he was mistaken.

“Okay!” He nodded.

Before having seen the yao army, Zuo Mo might have found it extraneous, but right now he didn’t hesitate.

This was useful! Very useful!

For him, starting from a blank slate wasn’t a new experience. Before, as long as he could make jingshi, he would work with all his effort! Now, Zuo Mo discovered that his little life was more important. His belief suddenly turned, anything that could save his little life, he would definitely put everything in!

The two crowded together and started to discuss.

Both were greenhorns, the mood was vibrant, but quickly, the discussion reached a standoff. Words had no proof, especially when the two had divergent views, no one could persuade the other. At this time, Gongsun Cha did not care Zuo Mo was his shixiong. His face was flushed as he argued, his expression ferocious, he no longer looked like a weak and bashful young master.

“If we each have a troop and can really fight, that would be nice.” Zuo Mo sighed, “Then who is right, it naturally can be seen.”

“Yes!” Gongsun Cha’s face was also bitter, holding his head and sighing. “Talking soldiers on paper, it is useless.”

A voice suddenly came inside Zuo Mo’s mind. “Want to try? I’ve got a way.”

Pu Yao suddenly came out.

“What way?” Zuo Mo’s mind became alert. Pu Yao might like to boast, but he occasionally had some real skill.

Pu Yao looked at him. “Actually, this kind of thing has been played since a long time ago, like Seal Soldier Battle Board, like Puppet Chess.”

“What is that?” Hearing those two new terms, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but be curious.

“It is a kind of War Chess.”

“War Chess?”

“There’s many ways to play, like one on one, or many against many.” Pu Yao seemed to suddenly sink into his memories, refocusing after a while. “I remember it was quite fashionable back then.”

“You have those?” Zuo Mo looked suspiciously at Pu Yao.

“No.” Pu Yao shook his head. “The most important part is the rules. It is very easy to make them.” He threw a ball of light at Zuo Mo. “Here, these are the rules for all kinds of War Chess games that I played before, and how to make them.”

“Hm, when did you become this kind?” Zuo Mo’s gaze became even more suspicious, but his hands were not slow at all, rapidly catching the ball of light.

“I don’t want you to die this quickly.” Pu Yao looked scornfully at Zuo Mo before disappearing.

The date seed ship silently slid along the bottom in the pitch black water. For everyone, this was a very long period of boredom. Chun Yu Cheng seemed to be accustomed to this kind of boredom. He continued to busy himself in his experiments.

Zuo Mo occasionally took out the Golden Crow Fire. He seemed to be forging something.

“So boring!” Gongsun Cha yawned. He seemed to be the only person that didn’t have anything to do. He had thought about teasing Silly Bird to relieve his boredom but Silly Bird ignored him, proudly strutting her bird walk in the cabin. Lil’ Black climbed around the cabin without exhaustion. Lil’ Pagoda floated in the air, spinning in its spot. The three golden armor guards were like three statues, not having moved a finger in days.

Originally, Gongsun Cha had been worried they might meet some water element ling beasts. In the legends, there were many terrifying ling beasts in the Endless Ocean. However, their luck seemed to be exceptional and they travelled smoothly.

But these days were really so bland.

“Done,” Zuo Mo suddenly stated, making Gongsun Cha jump in fright..

He crowded over. “What’s done? Hm, what is this? Chess?”

“En, something called a War Chess,” Zuo Mo said uncertainly. “I don’t know if I made it correctly. Come, let’s try.”

Gongsun Cha, so bored he had almost fallen asleep, instantly jumped up. “Okay!”

Zuo Mo took out a jade scroll, recording down some of the rules that Pu Yao gave him and threw it to Gongsun Cha.

“Hm, interesting!” Gongsun Cha took the jade scroll. After a look, he became alert.

Zuo Mo also started to read the rules. Reading it in detail, he was instantly frightened!

F***! This was that complicated?

The dense paragraphs of rules made his head feel numb.

He heard Gongsun Cha’s voice full of enthusiasm, “Hm, this bit is interesting, yes, yes … … oh, I understand … …”

Zuo Mo could only force himself to keep reading.

An hour later, when Zuo Mo’s eyes were unfocused and his brain faint, he suddenly heard Gongsun Cha say, “So interesting, so interesting! It’s really too interesting!”

Zuo Mo raised his head in shock. He saw Gongsun Cha look excitedly at him, and say, “Let’s begin! If I know there was something as fun as this, I wouldn’t have learned how to butcher!”

What Zuo Mo forged was Puppet Chess. It was simpler. The size of the Seal Soldier Battle Board was bigger, requiring better skill at forging, and had more complex rules.

Basically, Puppet Chess was made from a set of little illusions. In a circle one zhang wide, miniature mountains and rivers were perfectly depicted. There were even clouds in the sky that slowly changed. Suddenly, these white clouds started to rain. Under the rain, the water in the river suddenly grew. A xiuzhe wearing Taoist robes suddenly charged into the sky from the river, slowly scanned the surroundings. Seeing there was not anything, the person went back into the river.

“Exquisite! Truly too exquisite!” Gongsun Cha gaped, his eyes changing from excited to scorching.

Zuo Mo was also shocked by such exquisiteness. Even though he had made it from beginning to end, but he had never thought of the result of the end product.

This wasn’t some chess board, it was like a complete little world. Everything inside would naturally cycle on their own.

So wondrous!

Zuo Mo’s mind became blank.

“Quick quick, how to play?” Gongsun Cha urged.

Zuo Mo refocused and handed him a piece of third-grade Black Daze crystal. “Put your mind into it.” He also took up a piece of black daze crystal and flooded it with his consciousness.

He felt the scenery in front of his eyes change, and he seemed to be looking from the sky.

Hm, his eyes unconsciously looked down.

Yao!

Nine yao were arranged in an organized square. He could clearly feel the connection between him and the nine yao. He was even able to use the eyes of any of the yao to see everything in the surroundings.

At the same time, the information of the nine yao flowed through his mind.

His mind moved, and a yao suddenly stepped three paces forward, leaving the troop. He instantly controlled it to do many strange and awkward poses.

So interesting! Very interesting!

Zuo Mo was in shock.

Translator Ramblings: What to do when you are bored? Play games. This is a road trip to a place they don’t know.

Pu Yao is very good at hiding since he found a spot inside Zuo Mo’s sea of consciousness. He managed to evade Xin Yan and the others, then the people at the Sword Test Conference, and now the yao. At this point, it’s pretty obvious that he doesn’t like the yao that much. At the same time, as a commentator pointed out, he doesn’t respect Zuo Mo as an equal considering how he just takes Zuo Mo’s resources and uses them without permission. From our perspective as readers, we frequently side with Zuo Mo since we have the most knowledge about his state of mind, and there is a tendency to desire the main character to improve and win all the time. However, in a world where power is might, Zuo Mo is not at a strength that Pu Yao can respect even if he is greatly weakened now. From Pu Yao’s perspective, Zuo Mo’s primary skills in the consciousness and body cultivation is due to him giving/selling the knowledge to Zuo Mo. Zuo Mo is akin to a leech that Pu Yao needs at this point to survive but Zuo Mo is still so weak that Pu Yao dismisses him. His mindset has not completely adjusted to his present situation, and he is refusing to admit some truths. The change in Pu Yao’s mindset will be an interesting one.

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